Empty Bowls ladles up help for Tarrant Area Food Bank

It’s perhaps the only local charity event where soups play a major role in raising serious money.

Empty Bowls Fort Worth 2016 is staged by the Tarrant Area Food Bank. The fund-raiser — in its 14th year — runs for just two hours, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, at the Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall at the Will Rogers Memorial Center.

It’s a multipronged fundraiser.

For their $60-$150 entry fee, regular and V.I.P. ticket holders get to pick a bowl from an estimated 2,500 hand-painted bowls. Filling these bowls will be plenty of soups, stews and desserts, all donated by as many as 33 local chefs, restaurants, culinary schools and caterers.

This year, restaurants and their soups will include Vidalias Southern Cuisine’s lobster bisque; Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine’s roasted root vegetable soup; Bob’s Steak and Chop House’s lobster bisque; Eddie V’s Prime Seafood’s sweet potato coconut curry soup with spicy chickpeas and fresh crab; Fred’s Texas Cafe’s green chili pork stew; and Savor Culinary Services’ butternut squash soup.

Ticketholders also have the privilege of purchasing one of the more artistic bowls crafted by local artists. These are done in ceramic, fabric, wood, metal, pottery and glass.

A silent auction offers such prizes as two- and three-dimensional art by local artisans, art gallery jewelry pieces and a variety of “foodie experiences,” including a tasting at a local cheese-making dairy farm.

The live auction features autographed “celebrity bowls” from such luminaries as Clint Black, Vince Gill, Sara Evans, Jason Alexander, Van Cliburn gold medalist Vadym Kholodenko and TCU football coach Gary Patterson.

A perennially successful fund-generator (every $1 raised at the event provides five meals), Empty Bowls aims to attract 1,200 attendees, to finance 1.6 million meals from this year’s two-hour event.

The Tarrant Food Bank distributes more than 23 million meals annually.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Empty Bowls ladles up help for Tarrant Area Food Bank."